A group of young men in Saudi Arabia have launched a campaign titled 'allow young men in', demanding their right to dine at certain local restaurants and cafes that enforce a “families only” rule on weekends, Arab News reported.
The campaign's hashtag on Twitter was launched by its founder Mohammad Bahareth and 20 other co-members of the Makkah Youth Council, calling for an end to a ban that contradicts the law.
Restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia are typically divided into two sections: One for single males, and another for families.
Starting in 2012, men unaccompanied by women were allowed to enter shopping malls and restaurants after being banned from entering these “family only” areas, but on weekends and other busy days, a few places still resort to blocking single men from entering to reallocate their areas to families.
Speaking to Arab News, Bahareth said that “according to the municipality, restaurants and cafes are only allowed to open part of the singles’ section for families on busy days like weekends and holidays. But they are not allowed to take over the whole section and close it."
He also added that restaurants that decide to only allow families to enter, "need a statement from the municipality to prove that they are allowed to do so," and explained that the group will be taking the initiative to keep track and report any facility that violates municipality orders.
Young men who aren't allowed to enter public places "feel rejected by their society."
Speaking on behalf of young men in his country, Bahareth says that being blocked from entering public spaces creates a feeling of rejection among many and is even leading a few to "resort to bad habits.”
He explains that when they are blocked from entering restaurants, single men often resort to other places that are always open to them including "fast food chains that contribute to unhealthy diets, or shisha places where they learn bad habits like smoking."
Bahareth and his colleagues hope that their campaign will help loosen restrictions against young men and finally give them the right to spend a weekend evening at any restaurant of their choice.